Inseparable: A Mabudachi Trio fic
by Raberba girl
Summary: A fic following Ayame, Shigure, and Hatori from elementary to high school as their character traits develop. Rated T for a situation in part 2.
1. Elementary School

Inseparable: A Mabudachi Trio fic  
A Fruits Basket fanfic by Raberba girl

**Third Grade**

"Everyone, settle down now!" the teacher called out on the first day of school. The command had absolutely no effect on the roomful of chattering, laughing eight-year-olds. Bookbags and jackets were scattered all over the floor, and more children were sitting on the desks than in them.

Hatori Sohma leaned back dangerously in his chair, propping one knee against the edge of the desk for balance. Shigure Sohma was sitting quietly and unobtrusively on the desk behind him, while Ayame Sohma stood in front and leaned his arms carelessly on Hatori's desk. Ayame was currently gushing about the new school wardrobe he had annoyed his mother into buying for him.

"And there were these _awesome_ leather boots that I wanted reeeally really bad, but Mom wouldn't get them for me 'cause they were expensive, so I cried and ran to a lady who worked there, and I told her that my father had given me boots like those just before he died horribly in a fencing accident, but they got stolen and I was afraid I'd forget even his face if I didn't have boots like those again to remind me, and the lady started crying and gave the boots to Mom for a _discount_." Ayame smiled proudly.

"How stupid," Hatori said. He tossed his hair out of his eyes in the cool way he had learned from a movie villain. "If _I_ worked there, I'd never let you get away with it."

"You were lying, Ayame, right?" Shigure asked.

Ayame grinned prettily. "Of course!"

Shigure looked thoughtful. Then he pulled a sheet of paper and some colored pencils out of his backpack, so he could draw a picture.

"Look, Ayame, now you started him off again," Hatori sighed.

"_Show_ it to me when you're done!" Ayame said insistently to Shigure.

"Like he's not," Hatori muttered. Ayame, however, was not satisfied. He walked around Hatori's desk, pressed close to Shigure, and stared over the dark-haired boy's shoulder at the picture taking shape.

"Is that me?" he asked, jabbing his finger at the figure on the paper.

"Yes, get your fingers out of the way!" Shigure said in annoyance. He batted Ayame's hand away, and Ayame gave him a little shove in retaliation.

"My hair's not yellow!" he said indignantly.

"Stupid. White doesn't show on white paper," Shigure returned.

"I _know_ that, stupid, but you're supposed to color black lines, so my hair _looks_ white."

"Who's the artist here, doofus, you or me?"

"Shut up," Hatori muttered. He brought the chair down with a loud thump and pretended to look busy and studious.

Shigure and Ayame, not catching the warning, continued to argue until the paper was suddenly snatched out of Shigure's hands.

"You tore it--!" he started to exclaim, but then fell silent. His shoulders hunched and he stared at the floor, while Ayame glared at the teacher.

"_Stop_ goofing around, _sit_ down, and pay attention," she growled. Shigure slipped into the desk's seat without a word and without looking at anyone, but Ayame made a face at the teacher while her back was turned. Hatori nodded his head in approval, and Ayame, grinning happily, took the seat next to his friend.

After forcing the remainder of the class more or less into submission, the teacher marched back up to the front of the room. In one motion, she carelessly crumpled up the drawing and threw it into the trash can. She did not notice Shigure's lowered face growing dark with silent anger, or the naughty twinkles in Ayame's and Hatori's eyes.

"Now that I _finally_ have your attention, I am going to take attendance. Please answer 'Here' or 'Present' when your name is called." She rummaged around on her desk until she found the list of names. "Ishida."

"He's absent," Ayame called. On the other side of the classroom, a boy with spiky blonde hair looked startled.

"Thank you," the teacher said in surprise, and made a quick mark on her list. "Izumi."

"He's out, too," Hatori called. A red-haired boy in the front row glared at Hatori, but did not have a chance to speak before the teacher moved on to the next name.

"Kamiya."

"He won't get back from vacation 'til tomorrow," Ayame supplied. A boy with goggles perched on his forehead glanced up, confused.

"Thank you," the teacher said again, still surprised at the boys' helpfulness. "Kido."

"He missed the bus this morning," Hatori supplied with a straight face. A dark-haired boy with glasses looked up from the book he was reading in surprise.

The teacher frowned at Hatori and Ayame as she said, "Takahashi."

"What a shame," Ayame sighed. "He transferred to another school at the last minute." A small boy sputtered with indignation.

The teacher slammed her list down on the desk. "You two, what are your names?" she demanded angrily.

"I'm Daisuke Niwa," Ayame said airily. "I just love helping out teachers, especially on the first day of school! It's so fun!"

"Satoshi Hiwatari," Hatori said calmly. "Glad to help."

The teacher frowned. "Hiwatari? Niwa? I don't remember those names on my list." She spent a few minutes scanning the names in growing frustration. The class began to get restless, and the kids who had had their names stolen were glaring at the Sohma boys and whispering to each other angrily.

"Guys, it's okay, you don't have to do this," Shigure whispered. It had been funny at first, but he didn't care about the drawing enough to see his cousins get into trouble. He had barely started the picture, anyway, it was easily redone.

"Nuh uh, Shigure," Ayame scolded. He thought he was whispering, though his voice was loud enough to be heard by nearly everyone. "This is _justice_. We must make the most of this opportunity to punish wrongdoers and thwart the spread of evil!"

"You've been watching too much anime," Hatori muttered.

The teacher stomped up to them. "You and you, _out_," she snarled, pointing at the door. "And you too, I know that you're mixed up in this somehow!" Shigure's face burned red, but he got up and headed for the door without a word. Hatori gracefully unfolded from his seat and sauntered out with his hands in his pockets. Ayame happily went off on a tangent, inventing a heroic-sounding speech. In the end, the teacher grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out, with Ayame still yakking all the way.

* * *

"Mom!" Ayame yelled happily when he got home, "School was fun today! And look, they gave me a paper! It says that I'm in trouble and they want to have a _conference._ I know what that word means, it means they want to meet with you officially and discuss my disgraceful behavior!"

"Ayame!" his mother groaned. "How are you supposed to be top in your class if you keep irritating your teachers?"

"Don't worry, Mom," he assured her. He shed his jacket and new leather boots, then handed the note to his mother as he skipped past her into the kitchen. "Once they start giving us homework," he said, settling down at the table with snacks, "I can win her over, no problem."

* * *

Hatori shoved through the front door, slung down his backpack, and dropped sullenly into an armchair.

Hatori's father was relaxing on the couch, watching TV. He raised an eyebrow at his son. "Dare I ask...how was school?"

"Stupid as always," Hatori grumbled. "If Ayame and Shigure weren't there, I wouldn't go at all."

His father flicked some ash off the end of his cigarette. "School isn't hard, you know, once you find an area of study that you like."

"You're wrong," Hatori mumbled. "I'll never be as smart as Ayame. He's always making A's without even trying. I can _never_ be as good as him."

His father didn't reply. He only sat and watched Hatori thoughtfully, as cigarette smoke trailed slowly past his face.

* * *

Shigure sneaked in through the back door, so he wouldn't be held up by his parents. He darted upstairs, where he dumped his bag and eagerly spread his tools across the desk. He sketched ideas and jotted notes on one piece of paper, then began sketching more earnestly on a second sheet. Ayame's story had given him ideas...fencing matches, dead fathers, and leather boots; he could make something good out of that.

* * *

A couple of months into the school year, Ayame had easily taken his place at the top of the class. The teacher, having long forgotten his antics on the first day of school, now loved him. He was so clever, and such a beautiful child (oh yes, he knew exactly how to play his looks). She was not so sure about that dark child...the brooding, rebellious one who always _stared_ at her out of sarcastic eyes, but the two of them were cousins, after all. Hatori Sohma couldn't be that bad.

The teacher hardly, if ever, thought of quiet Shigure Sohma. He spent most of the class time drawing, reading, or daydreaming, and rarely spoke to anyone other than his two cousins.

The teacher sat at her desk now, just before the first bell, organizing things and watching children trickle into the room. There were Ishida and Kamiya, arguing as usual, and Izumi toting that laptop of his. Oh, and the sweet little boy with scars on one cheek, laughingly enduring taunts from his delinquent friend. Various other, less interesting students; and then finally, the three Sohmas.

Hatori was sauntering along, listening to the ever-talking Ayame, who flitted around him like a silver butterfly. Shigure paced a couple of steps behind them with a bunch of papers under one arm, looking deep in thought.

The bell rang a minute later, and everyone slowly took their seats. The teacher stood and picked up the stack of papers she had finished grading the night before. The classroom was more or less quiet, with the exception of:

"...and I told the morons it was harmless, but they just told me to get lost and kept throwing stuff at it, so I kicked the first guy in the knee and grabbed the snake, but then they grabbed me and one of them pulled my hair, so I called a bunch more snakes to scare 'em off, and they _ran_ screaming like--"

"Ayame," the teacher finally managed to cut in. She smiled and held her finger to her lips. "When the bell rings, what are we supposed to do, Ayame?"

"We be QUIET!" Ayame yelled. Some of the kids giggled.

"Ssh, ssh, ssh! That's right, Ayame."

Ayame lowered his voice to a perfectly audible stage-whisper. "Supposed to be quiet like _this_, right?"

"That's _right_, Ayame," she answered with an encouraging smile. Ayame smiled back, brilliantly. His hair and eyes seemed to sparkle.

_'Sickening,'_ Hatori thought in annoyance. _'Why does he play along with her like that?'_

"Now, class," the teacher announced, "I am returning your essays to you." She began passing them out. Most of the kids stuffed the papers into their backpacks or their desks without looking at them. They had been told to write a paragraph on their favorite animal, pending a unit on watered-down biology.

"I would like to point out," the teacher continued, "that Ayame Sohma turned in the best paper I have ever seen from a third grader. I was impressed to find that his essay about snakes was written almost at a middle-school level."

"Aha ha ha!" Ayame laughed. "You must not compliment me so much, Sensei, or my classmates will get jealous! After all, not everyone can be brilliant _and_ beautiful; there's always..." The ones who had not tuned him out by this time were fuming, and lengthening their mental "I Hate Ayame Sohma" lists.

Hatori flipped his paper face-down the instant it was placed on his desk, without even looking at the grade. He didn't have to guess that the single line, _"I hate seahorses, and dragons are much cooler"_ wouldn't score very high.

The teacher stopped beside Shigure's desk. "Shigure," she said seriously. Everyone stopped what they were doing to listen. "Honey, you were supposed to write a paragraph. We are not in art class. This is a very nice picture, but you needed to _write_ about dogs, not draw them. Do the assignment correctly next time, okay? Or I will have to speak to your parents."

Shigure kept staring straight ahead. The other kids were snickering. Hatori and Ayame were looking dangerous.

The two of them settled down, however, when the teacher moved away. This was because, as soon as her back was turned, Shigure had flipped to a blank notebook page and started rapidly sketching. Hatori and Ayame, satisfied that something was being done, pretended to pay attention to the lesson.

A few minutes later, without looking at his cousins, Shigure folded the drawing into a tiny packet and tapped his pencil against the desktop. Ayame flipped his hair back in response. Perfectly timed, Shigure's tapping pencil flicked the piece of paper into the flying white mass. The hand Ayame was running through his luscious locks met the little piece of debris that had gotten caught, and it disappeared into his half-closed hand. Then he folded his arms on his desk, staying still for a while to offset the distraction of his hair.

At the right time, he lazily unfolded the packet with one hand, still looking to the front of the room. When the teacher turned to write something on the board, Ayame glanced down at the drawing and nearly choked trying to keep back laughter. Pretending to cough, he held his fist up to his mouth to stifle it, crumpling the paper in the same movement.

Hatori had been rolling a marble back and forth across his desk in boredom. At that moment, he happened to miss, and the marble rolled onto the floor between his desk and Ayame's.

"Hatori," the teacher said in annoyance, "put that away and pay attention."

"Yes ma'am," Hatori mumbled. He bent sideways to retrieve the marble, just as Ayame did the same.

"_Do_ let me get that for you, Hatori!"

"I got it," Hatori said, but their fingers had already met. Ayame laughed and withdrew his hand. When Hatori came up, he was cradling the crumpled ball of paper in his palm alongside the marble.

He leaned back in his chair again, propped his knees against the edge of the desk, and opened a textbook in his lap. Behind its cover he quickly uncrumpled the paper, then smiled at what he saw: a hurried but still detailed sketch of the teacher being roasted to a crisp by a fearsome creature. It was a three-headed, serpent-tailed dog that breathed dragon-fire from its mouth.

_'Nice,'_ Hatori thought. _'But it's no revenge if only the three of us get to see this.'_ He brought his chair back down to all four legs and lowered the textbook, chuckling audibly as he studied the drawing.

"Hatori Sohma," the teacher snapped. "What exactly is it that's so much more fascinating than my lesson?"

"Nothing," Hatori said quickly. He whipped the paper behind his back. Ayame looked delighted, Shigure alarmed.

The teacher marched up and confiscated the drawing. When she saw it, her face turned red. "So, Hatori, you aim to be as good an artist as your cousin."

"You weren't supposed to _see_ it," Hatori whined artfully.

Ayame, playing his part, took the teacher's side. "Hatori!" he exclaimed, "How could you ever make fun of our sensei like that? She is hard-working and beautiful and much to be praised, and here you are drawing mean pictures of her!"

"If she didn't go poking into other people's pictures..." Hatori grumbled, but it was as far as he got before the teacher wrote him up. She marched to hold open the door for him, and when her back was turned, Hatori winked at his cousins and flashed a thumbs-up. Shigure glared, but Ayame winked back and returned the gesture.

* * *

Hatori was not in the principal's office for very long; he had been there too many times. All that resulted was that he was not allowed to play during recess, and had to sit next to the teacher the whole time.

Ayame and Shigure were on the swings as usual, making up adventures for their super-hero characters. Ayame shamelessly invented adventures for Hatori's characters, too, as Shigure stored up more and more ideas for his artwork and the two manga series he was creating.

They only managed to do this, however, for the first ten minutes of recess. Then Shigure frowned and dragged his feet, bringing his swing to a stop. "Ayame..."

"What, you think they ought to fight rabid mermaids instead of dragons? That _is_ a bit more interesting--"

"Ayame, let's go play on the slides." Hatori and the teacher were sitting near the slides.

"The slides are all the way on the other side of the _playground_," Ayame complained. Then he saw the small crowd of kids coming toward them, and he dragged to a stop, as well. "I wonder what those losers want," he thought out loud, sounding unconcerned.

"Let's _go_, Ayame."

Ayame only smiled, leaned over, and hooked his elbow through Shigure's. "Scaredy-cat."

"I am _not_. Don't call me a Cat."

"Cat, Cat! Shigure-neko!"

"Shut UP." The kids were now within hearing distance. Shigure stopped speaking and looked down.

"Hey Kaiba," Ayame called. "You can't play here, these swings are _ours_."

Seto Kaiba stopped and crossed his arms, leveling a glare at Ayame that would have had most kids shaking in their shoes. "Yo, teacher's pet. We're sick of you." The children gathered around him were staring at Ayame with hard faces.

"And I'm sick of _you_, Yu-Gi-Oh freak."

"Oooohhhh!" the other kids chanted, and looked eagerly at Kaiba to see his response.

Kaiba's eyes narrowed. "You're annoying. You're a _cheater_. You're not leaving this playground 'til I bash your face in, pretty-boy."

"You take one swing at me and Hatori will beat you up," Ayame said defiantly. He realized that the air was filled unnaturally loud, insistent barking, from pet dogs in the nearby neighborhood. _'Calm down, Shigure,'_ Ayame thought in amusement. _'It'll be fine.'_

"Looks like your jerk friend isn't here," Kaiba observed. "Come here before I count to three, or I drag you here."

Ayame started swinging again. "It's not my fault you losers are too stupid to do good on the homework. It's _easy_ stuff, you know. Maybe you all ought to get held back a grade." He began loudly singing a commercial jingle.

Kaiba stormed toward him. The other kids, spurred by his movement, ran forward and dragged Ayame off the swing. Shigure shouted, then charged forward and flailed at the boys who were hitting Ayame. Someone pulled him back and punched him hard enough to send him to the ground in a daze.

Ayame was yelling furiously and trying to hit back. Snakes were suddenly wriggling all over the ground. Some of the kids were frightened and ran, but a few were too angry to be scared off. Ayame screamed in pain and outrage when they began yanking mercilessly on his hair.

By this time several shouting teachers had arrived to break up the fight, and Hatori was with them. He had most of the attackers efficiently leveled before anyone was able to stop him. Kaiba, in the grip of one of the adults, glared at Hatori as a scratch on his face burned red. Hatori's eyes were icy, and he clenched his fists as he was held by another teacher.

"Stay away from my cousins," he hissed at Kaiba.

Things happened quickly after that. Almost ten kids were sent to the office for fighting, including Kaiba and the three Sohmas. Many of them were suspended, including Kaiba, Ayame, and Hatori.

At Ayame's house that evening, the three boys were in his room. Shigure lounged on the bed, and Hatori sat leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. They watched as Ayame stood in front of the mirror, bewailing his bruised face and swollen nose.

"I cannot believe this!" Ayame fumed. "Look what they did to my _face_, it's horrible! They have compromised my loveliness! And my HAIR! _Look_ at this, it keeps coming out!" Ayame brushed his fingers through his hair, tugged gently at the ends, and came away with several long, loose strands. "I hate them!" Ayame yelled.

"It's okay," Shigure murmured, trying to comfort him.

Hatori paused before he spoke. Then he said quietly, "You shouldn't have said those things to them, Ayame."

"Shut up," Ayame growled, not really meaning it.

"It's because you keep making such high grades. And the teacher loves you. They're jealous."

"I _know_."

"And you rub it in their faces."

Ayame was silent. Shigure had his eyes fixed intently on Hatori.

"Sometimes you even annoy me, Ayame, the way you keep going on about how smart you are and how stupid everyone else is."

Ayame's eyes widened. He stared at Hatori. "I do not!" Hatori didn't answer. "Do I really annoy you, Hatori?" Ayame pleaded. "Do you hate me, too?"

"You keep--" Shigure started. He stared at the floor, and it was difficult for him to go on, but he did. "You keep bragging about it. It makes me feel bad."

Ayame stood there, shocked, feeling as if the ground had been pulled out from under him. Getting beat up at school was nothing, compared to the realization that his two dearest friends didn't like him.

Shigure came over and put an arm around Ayame's shoulders. "But you're still cool, Ayame," he added. "Just 'cause you're annoying doesn't mean I don't like you."

"Hey." Ayame turned to face Hatori. "You're still my brother, Ayame, and Shigure too. The three of us, we're inseparable."

"A trio," Shigure spoke up.

Ayame smiled. "We need a name."

Hatori shook his head in disgust, and Shigure frowned. "A name?" he repeated.

"Yeah! All brotherhoods have names! We can be...the Gorgeous Flower Trio!"

Hatori cussed. Shigure laughed.

"That's stupid," Shigure said, but he was grinning.

"No, no, look! We are dazzling, three beautiful blossoms of youth, united under the same curse, facing the world together!"

"I am not going to be known as a Dazzling Blossom or a Gorgeous Flower or whatever," Hatori said threateningly.

"Hatori," Shigure said soothingly, "believe me, if _you_ show up at school calling yourself a Gorgeous Flower, it won't ruin your image."

"Yeah, Hatori," Ayame chimed in. "After the way you flattened all those jerks today, they'll be kissing your feet in terror even if you call yourself a Sparkling Bunny or a Jet-lagged Penguin."

"Now you're just being silly," Shigure said. He reached for his pocket, where he always carried a pencil and a bit of blank paper. He drew their three faces, surrounded by flower petals. At the top he wrote their new name in curling, fancy handwriting.

"Yeah!" Ayame cheered. "Go Mabudachi!"

"What did I ever do to deserve these two?" Hatori wondered.

Author's Notes: The inspiration for this fic came when I saw some little kids in a restaurant. It started me wondering about what the Mabudachi Trio might have been like in elementary school, and bam! The idea for this story was born. I also got a few ideas (not as many) for their experiences in middle and high school, so I wrote those out as well. Possibly that was a mistake, seeing how much trouble I've been having with the middle school sequence.

I know nothing about what all-boys schools are like in Japan (or anywhere else, for that matter). I hope, if you are knowledgeable about such things, that you will forgive any inaccuracies.

This fic is not a crossover, but I used characters from other anime/manga series as extras, since I didn't feel like making up my own. For anyone who's interested, the kids who had their names stolen are the boys from Digimon Adventure; Daisuke Niwa and Satoshi Hiwatari are from D.N. Angel, and Seto Kaiba is from Yu-Gi-Oh!.


	2. Middle School

_Inseparable: A Mabudachi Trio fic_, by Raberba girl

**Sixth Grade**

"I HATE babies!" Ayame complained as he walked into the classroom. He threw down his backpack and sat on his desk. Shigure and Hatori, who had arrived earlier, stopped talking and turned to look at their cousin.

"What's he done this time?" Shigure asked.

"Threw up all over my sketches! Those were _good_ ideas, too! I was thinking of adding a middle eastern flair to some of the more traditional outfits--"

"Ayame," Hatori sighed.

"Anyway, it's not just that, you know. The kid _cries_ all the time, and when he's not crying he's _coughing_, and he keeps looking at me with those freaking purple eyes like he expects me to pick him up and _cuddle_ him! As if Mom doesn't hate the sight of him already; can't the kid take a hint?"

"Let me see your sketches," Shigure said soothingly. Ayame dug through his backpack and produced a battered folder. "I had to re-do them in the car, so they're not as good, but I managed to reproduce the general idea."

With a critical eye, Shigure flipped through Ayame's outfit designs, as Hatori watched over his shoulder.

"Most of those are garbage," Hatori said. "I'd never be caught dead in them."

"Ah, Hatori," Ayame sighed, "you have no taste!"

"He's got a point, though," Shigure smiled. "I'd only wear some of these if I was drunk."

"Good! I'll make up some outfits in your size and be sure to get pictures next time you're plastered," Ayame teased.

"Looking forward to it," Shigure grinned.

The bell rang soon after, and the students found their seats and quieted down. The teacher, a man who seemed perpetually rushed, immediately began slapping stacks of paper down on the first desk of each row. "I graded your essays. Pass them back," he said briskly. "Today we're moving on to our poetry unit, and those interested in extra credit, check the bulletin board."

Hatori glanced critically over his essay. He had scored 84 percent, which was all right, though not as high as he had hoped for. He turned to Shigure. "How'd you do?"

"Not as good as I thought," Shigure said unhappily. He kept flipping through the pages of his essay, zeroing in on the imperfect bits he had been unable to fix before the due date. "I'm not sure, but he might have taken points off for using an obscure reference here...I know we aren't going to read the book I'm alluding to until next year, but I read it a while ago and I thought he'd appreciate--"

Hatori snatched his cousin's essay out of his hands and stared at the cover sheet. "Shigure, do you know what this big red number is? It's called a 96. What were you expecting, a freaking hundred?"

"Yes!"

_"'Wonderful use of detail and excellent references,'"_ Hatori read the teacher's note on front. _"'One or two uncommon grammatical errors, and your style needs a little work, but on the whole this is a very nice piece, and I look forward to seeing you progress--'_ This is making me sick." Hatori flung the essay back at Shigure, who scrambled to catch it. Shigure was smiling, his face slightly pink.

"That's wonderful, you two," Ayame laughed. "I always knew you would do well if you ever got serious about schoolwork."

"C again?" Hatori asked.

Ayame held up his own essay with a flourish. "_D_," he announced proudly. "And look at the cute little note he added: _'I don't understand where you think you're going with this. Arguments shaky and unclear, no references. Too short. Please see me after class.'_ You think he's going to ask me out, or is he too shy and is only after my phone number?"

"Play hard to get," Hatori said with a straight face. "Make him wait a day or two, but do a bit of subtle flirting in the meantime."

"Stop it," Shigure said. "Ayame, don't get _too_ carried away. If you make too many low grades you'll fail, and then you won't be in our class next year."

"Don't worry about it," Ayame said carelessly. "What I'm doing here is an _art_. I'll make a show of studying for the next couple of quizzes, make, oh, let's say a C and a B, then fail the next quiz. Then I'll make B's on the homework I decide to turn in, and get tutoring to make a B on the test. Then I can fail some more assignments. It should all average out to a just-passing grade."

"I think you're taking this too far," Shigure said quietly.

Ayame smiled. "Like I care about school. I only come because of you two."

"Sohma, Sohma, and Sohma," the teacher called, "pay attention. We have long since put away our essays and started the lesson. Ayame, what is the theme of this poem?"

"Which one?"

One of the boys sitting nearby turned his book so that Ayame could see the page number. Ayame blew the boy a kiss and winked. The boy blushed. Ayame casually plucked Shigure's book off his desk and flipped to the poem in question.

"Ah, let's see. Yes, the theme of this poem is that flowers are beautiful and rule the universe, just like the Mabudachi Trio!" Hatori and Ayame punched their fists into the air at the same time and whooped. Shigure followed suit, though somewhat half-heartedly. A few of the other boys seized the chance to make some noise as well, but they were quickly silenced by a glare from the teacher.

"I don't know where you got that 'rule the universe' stuff from, Ayame. Although the poem is _about_ a flower, that is not the _theme_. Shigure, what do you say?"

"Um..." Shigure took in a breath and looked at the poem he had studied the night before. "It's..." How come the words came to him so effortlessly when he was writing, and yet came out as a jumble when he tried to say his thoughts aloud? "I mean, the flower _could_ stand for human life, you know, like - like how, in the grand scheme of things, we, you know, people, _humans_, our lives are like..." _'Stop dithering, Shigure,'_ he told himself firmly, _'You know the answer.'_

He glanced at Hatori and Ayame, who made an encouraging gesture and wink at him, respectively. "Humans' lives are like flowers, blooming for a day and then dying out. This poem speaks of the short-lived nature of human beings - yet a single person can leave his mark upon the world, just like the memory of the beautiful flower stayed imprinted on the narrator's memory even years afterwards."

"Or like the way a single bozo's defining moment in life can keep generations of schoolboys bored to tears," Hatori put in. Laughter rippled through the room, and even Shigure covered his mouth to hide a smile.

The teacher shot Hatori a quick look of disgust, then went on. "Shigure is right, that is the prominent theme in this poem. Who can think of another interpretation?"

When the bell rang to signify the end of class, the teacher came up as Ayame was packing his bag.

"Ayame. May I speak to you for a moment?"

"But of course!" Ayame beamed.

The teacher sighed. "Ayame, the work you've been turning in to me...well, it's not satisfactory. I can tell that you have no interest in this class at all; when you _do_ turn in your homework, it's often some slipshod piece of junk you slapped together on the way to school. I don't like watching intelligent students wasting their abilities, and I think that, under your airhead attitude and all that mass of hair, there is a brain that can do amazing things if given the opportunity."

"I see what you are saying, sir," Ayame said seriously. Then he grinned again. "On the other hand--"

"Ayame," the teacher growled, "don't make me wrong about you. Start taking school more seriously, that's all I have to say."

"Of course, Sensei! I will create a whole new wardrobe _specifically_ for school, and I will use only the finest materials and most painstaking craftsmanship! I bet that you did not think I knew that word, but I do because I read so many fashion magazines! I bet you did not think that I read anything, either, ha ha! But you have inspired me, Sensei, and I _will_ try my hardest from now on to greet every school morning with an outfit fit for a prince, not just a student council president; and I will consider each and every garment with a seriousness unequaled since--"

"Just get out of here, Ayame!" The teacher stormed back to his desk. Ayame called a cheerful good-bye and went to join his cousins, who were both laughing.

"Good show, Ayame," Hatori congratulated as they walked down the hallway.

"Thank you," Ayame said modestly. "I think I won him over fairly well."

"We have math next," Shigure remarked.

"Looking forward to seeing Shishio-sensei again?" Ayame said with a sly look.

"She's bad news," Hatori murmured.

Shigure didn't say anything.

---------------------------------------------------

Ms. Shishio, as all her students agreed, was hot. She perplexed and delighted the boys by her moodiness. One day she would sit sulkily at her desk and do nothing but assign homework that was never due; the next day she would be friendly and engage the class in lively discussions. No one ever learned much in her class, but most of the boys didn't care.

The class period started with students being called to the blackboard to demonstrate homework problems. It ended with laughing boys scrawling chalk pictures that would have incensed the school principal, while Ms. Shishio perched on Shigure's desktop and traded dirty jokes with the rest of the class.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the period. The Mabudachi Trio were the last boys to leave the classroom. "Come _on_, Shigure," Hatori said in annoyance. "You always take forever to pack up."

"Only in this class, of course," Ayame added. Shigure's face colored just a little, and he speeded up his motions a bit. The boys had just reached the door, however, when Ms. Shishio called after them.

Shigure turned back. "What is it, ma'am?" he asked politely, ignoring both Hatori's sigh and Ayame's wink.

"Oh, it's nothing much, sweetheart, just these books I need you to help me stack," Ms. Shishio said reassuringly. She laughed dismissively at Hatori and Ayame. "Run along, you two, I won't hold up your cousin for long."

"We can help, too," Hatori pointed out.

"Oh, don't worry, dear, one strong boy is all I need. Go on, then, Shigure will be right out."

Hatori and Ayame left, a little reluctantly. They didn't speak for a few moments. Then Hatori slowly came to a stop, and Ayame looked at him.

"This doesn't...seem right," Hatori muttered.

"We've done everything together," Ayame pouted. "Until now."

"That's not what I meant. This isn't exactly something we can do 'together,'" Hatori pointed out. He glanced significantly back at the classroom.

Ayame sighed. "Still. I'm jealous."

Hatori smirked. "Of what, exactly?"

"That our Shigure would rather be with someone other than us!" Ayame insisted.

Hatori shrugged. "All right, then. I think I left something back in the classroom. You coming?"

"Of course. Together, we will reclaim what we have left behind!"

The two solemnly flashed their special thumbs-up sign. "Yes!" they said together. Then they turned around and walked quickly back to the classroom. A few feet away, Hatori gestured at Ayame to stop. Then Hatori crept ahead soundlessly and opened the classroom door just a crack. He looked for a moment, and his mouth tightened. Then he glanced at Ayame and nodded.

Ayame, taking his cue, ran the rest of the way to the classroom door, his footsteps heavy. "Shigure!" he yelled as he went, "Shigure, we _forgot_ something!" Ayame and Hatori burst into the room together.

Ms. Shishio was busy at her desk, stacking books at a rapid rate. Shigure, standing near her, had a slightly unfocused look in his eyes. His hands hovered as if they did not know what to do with themselves. Hatori quickly dropped a piece of paper on the floor.

Ms. Shishio turned and said in an overly bright tone, "Oh, Ayame, Hatori! Goodness, such energy! I thought you two left."

"I forgot my worksheet," Hatori said flatly. He retrieved the sheet of paper from the floor.

"It was a good thing you came back for that, Hatori!" Ayame laughed. "Otherwise you would have had to re-copy everything from Shigure's paper!"

"Better Shigure's than yours, Ayame," Ms. Shishio laughed.

Ayame grinned and winked at her.

"Well, it looks like we're all set up here. Why don't the three of you head on to your next class?" she suggested with a smile.

Ayame smiled back. Already he had his arm around Shigure and was propelling him toward the door. Hatori waited until they were gone, then stepped up to Ms. Shishio.

"You sure need a lot of help," Hatori commented. "Making copies, getting coffee, needing help with the computer...good thing you have someone like Shigure around." Hatori smiled, but his eyes were icy. "So yeah, if you're nice to me and give me all A's this year, I won't tell anyone you were kissing my cousin." He turned and walked away without another word. Ms. Shishio's face went pale.

In the hallway, Shigure suddenly stopped and braced himself, so that Ayame was unable to continue walking as well.

"Eh, Shigure?"

"Ayame, what did you two think you were doing?" Shigure demanded. Despite the angry tone, his face was pink, and he could not quite meet Ayame's eyes.

"Aha ha ha, Shigure! Hatori simply forgot his homework!"

Shigure glared and waited, and Ayame's face turned serious.

"Hatori thinks you're playing with fire, you know."

Shigure looked away. "He's probably right." Then he looked back. "What do _you_ think?"

"_I_ think every man needs a healthy dose of romance," Ayame said airily. "Let no one say you are too young for love!"

Shigure smiled. "Thanks, Ayame.

"Hey," Hatori barked as he walked by. "Get moving, the bell just rang."

---------------------------------------------------

Over the next week, Shigure seemed to get dopey with what Ayame called "the budding sighs of love." He spaced out a lot, so that it was difficult to get his attention; he started listening to different music, and Hatori had the last straw when he caught Shigure writing love-poems.

"It's a waste of your ability, in any case!" he yelled at one point.

"What gives you any right to judge that?" Shigure demanded hotly.

"I'd rather see you drawing _clothes_ than idolizing a thirty-year-old woman with questionable taste!"

"What's wrong with drawing clothes?" Ayame put in.

"So you're saying that women of good taste would never be attracted to me?" Shigure challenged.

"Shigure. You're twelve years old. Forget questionable; that's just--"

"I think these are sweet," Ayame put in. He held up the poems he had been reading and waved them in the air.

"Sweet? _That's_ the word you use to describe them?" Hatori said in disbelief.

"At least _somebody's_ on my side," Shigure said pointedly, and put his hand on Ayame's shoulder. Ayame looked back and forth between his cousins and smiled, to hide his own uneasiness.

Hatori threw up his hands. "Fine. If you don't recognize who's really on your side, then fine. Run to the pervert teacher, instead of trusting the friends you grew up with." Hatori stormed out of the room.

"Aha ha ha!" Ayame laughed, glad to fill his ears with the sound. It made it easier to block out one's thoughts. "Do not worry, Shigure, he will return! We are the Mabudachi Trio! Nothing can separate us! To show this special bond, I have plans to design matching outfits for us, which will display to the world our solidarity and shared purpose..."

Shigure wasn't listening. He stared straight ahead, unseeing, his hands clenched.

---------------------------------------------------

"Shishio-sensei?"

The woman's head jerked up, and she stared at Shigure almost suspiciously.

Her reaction surprised him, and for a moment he forgot what he was going to say.

"What is it, Shigure?" she snapped. "I'm busy."

He backed away a step. "I just...wanted to see if you needed help...with anything..." He quickly turned and followed his classmates out the door.

---------------------------------------------------

"Shigure!"

He looked up in surprise. They were supposed to be using the time to start on their homework problems, but everyone was chattering or drawing on the chalkboard or throwing paper across the room.

"Sensei?" It did not escape his notice that Hatori and Ayame stopped what they were doing to watch.

Ms. Shishio laughed nervously. She had been doing that a lot lately. "You know, you are doing wonderfully in my class, Shigure. I wanted to let you know that you earned several bonus points on your average, for all your hard work!"

"Bonus points, huh?" Shigure said quietly.

Ms. Shishio laughed again and reached to pat his shoulder, but then abruptly withdrew her hand and walked away.

"I'll be right back," Ayame said suddenly. His cousins watched as he threaded his way through the other boys to make it to the front of the room. As Ayame used the pencil sharpener, his gaze rested on the teacher's desk nearby, and Hatori and Shigure followed his eyes. There was a picture frame lying facedown amid the piles of paper on the desk. Ayame reached out to peek at it when he was sure the teacher was occupied with another group.

"What...?" Shigure murmured.

"He'll tell us when he gets back," Hatori assured him.

Ayame delicately blew wood shavings off his pencil, then made his way back.

"Well?" Hatori asked.

Shigure said nothing, but his face was tight with expectancy.

Ayame shrugged. "A man. Posing with Sensei at a restaurant."

The eyes of the three boys met for a moment. Then they looked away, each for different reasons.

---------------------------------------------------

"Shishio-sensei."

She jumped. "Oh, Shigure! What is it? Don't you have to go to your next class?"

"Just checking to see if there's anything I can do to help," Shigure said casually. His eyes, however, were not casual at all.

Ms. Shishio paused. Then she carefully folded her hands on the tabletop and met his gaze squarely. "I'm fine, Shigure." She paused, then reached for the photograph and set it gently upright. "Did you know I have a fiancé now?" she said with false cheeriness. "Pretty soon I might even be able to quit my job. It's such an exciting time for me!"

Shigure was silent.

"Aren't you going to congratulate me?" she prompted.

"Congratulations," he said. Then he smiled.

Ms. Shishio sat there, watching him leave, and she suddenly shivered.

---------------------------------------------------

"Hatori. May I speak with you a moment?"

Hatori leveled a pointed stare at Ms. Shishio as she attempted to catch him before his next class.

"Er...alone, I meant." She glanced apprehensively at Shigure, who raised his chin and gazed over her shoulder as if she didn't exist; and at Ayame, who was looking at her with a decidedly unfriendly expression.

"No," Hatori said clearly.

Ms. Shishio's lips pressed together at his rudeness, but then she shrugged. "Have it your way. I just wanted to make sure... That little agreement of ours. You are aware, Hatori, that you have full marks in my class?"

"It will look suspicious," Hatori pointed out, "when my grade report shows a perfect math score next to all the other less than perfect ones." He raised an eyebrow.

"Fine," she snapped. "I'll lower it. I just wanted to let you know that it is in my power to lower it quite a bit, if you...shall we say, talk too much."

"Won't work," Hatori decided. "When it comes to blackmail, I have the advantage."

Her face went red to hear him speak the word straight out. "Well then," she finally managed. "If there's anything I can do for you, Hatori, let me know."

"All right," he answered at once. "Break up with your fiancé. Never speak to him again." Shigure's eyes shot to him, and Ayame looked surprised at his boldness.

"You can't--!" she exclaimed. Then her eyes narrowed. "You think you're so clever, Hatori Sohma. Just remember, that if any...unsavory rumors spring up, I won't be the only one affected." Her fingers brushed up Shigure's face to tuck a lock of hair behind his ear. The gesture was swift and light, difficult to notice by anyone not watching closely; and then she had turned away.

That was Ms. Shishio's last week. It was said that she had transferred to another school, and she was replaced by a stern arithmetic professor who was aghast and outraged by the dawning realization that his students had learned virtually nothing all year.

---------------------------------------------------

"I had a weird dream last night," Shigure spoke up at lunch.

"Excellent! Tell us," Ayame urged. Hatori simply rolled his eyes and took another swallow of his drink.

"It was...about _her_." There was no need to clarify.

Ayame laughed and asked suggestively, "What kind of dream?"

"Not that kind of dream. It was...a nightmare. We were sleeping in the same bed - only I wasn't me, I was someone else - and she kissed me, but it hurt, and I realized there was a snake in the bed that had bit me, so we both jumped up, screaming, and then I realized that it was burning. The house, I mean. There was a dragon outside, and the house was burning."

Ayame and Hatori exchanged looks.

"Did the two of them escape?" Hatori asked, carefully unconcerned.

"Yeah." Shigure was watching them. "We...they, I mean...were standing outside the house, watching it burn. They lost everything."

There was a long silence.

Finally, Ayame tossed his head. "We would have lost more," he announced, and took another bite of his lunch.

"What are you talking about, Ayame?" Hatori said, a bit too forcefully. "It was just a dream."

"Of course it was! We didn't actually--"

Hatori elbowed him.

"Aha ha ha! Speaking of interesting dreams, I had this one once where we were walking through a forest..."

Shigure let the subject drop.

---------------------------------------------------

"Ayame," Ayame's mother called later that evening, "the phone's for you."

"About time, Hatori," Ayame murmured. He smiled at his reflection in the mirror and blew it a kiss. Then he ran to get the phone, still wearing the New Year's costume he had made. He wasn't dancing this year, but one could always dream. "Hatori! Words cannot express my delight at your decision to grace my ears with your lovely voice!"

_"Ayame, what are we going to do about Shigure?"_

Ayame sighed. "He's not himself, is he."

_"She still weighs on his mind."_

Ayame was quiet a moment. "We mustn't let our dear fellow Blossom fill his mind with thoughts of that seductress. We must plant lovely new ideas in his head and keep his attention focused on _us_!"

_"What exactly do you have in mind?"_ Hatori asked warily.

Ayame grinned. "You'll see tomorrow."

_"Wonderful. I am now shaking in my shoes."_

---------------------------------------------------

Shigure did not get to school as early as usual the next day. When he walked through the door, he was immediately pounced on by his silver-haired cousin.

"'Gure-san! How _could_ you keep me waiting so long?!"

_"'Gure-san?"_ Shigure repeated in disbelief.

"Here I was, _aching_ for you, your bright presence, the warmth of your touch, and you treat me so dishonorably!"

"Ayame?" Shigure said dubiously. He was having trouble keeping upright, since Ayame had wrapped his arms around Shigure's neck and was making little effort to support his own weight. Hatori had covered his eyes with one hand, and the other students in the room were snickering.

"Is _this_ how you act towards your beloved? Ah! Perhaps you are exhausted after dreaming passionately of me all last night!"

Shigure did not say that Ayame was not the subject of his passionate dreams.

Instead, the bell rang and the teacher, after lingering a few more seconds, reluctantly got off the Internet. "Ah...where was I...oh, school. Yes. Now, boys, take your seats. Today we are going to be studying a new concept..."

---------------------------------------------------

Shigure was very puzzled that day. Ayame kept winking at him, blowing kisses, passing notes, and caressing him.

In math class, particularly - Shigure could not daydream about Ms. Shishio because Ayame's flirting always seemed to be in his face. Even when he gave up and tried to do the schoolwork instead, there would be Ayame, flipping back that hair or doodling badly-drawn pictures of himself and/or Shigure. It eventually got to the point where Shigure began to find it hilarious. Ayame would simply glance in his direction and Shigure would burst out laughing.

By early afternoon, Shigure was even beginning to play along, somewhat clumsily. At the end of the day, when Ayame jumped to help him elegantly out of the car, then bent to kiss his hand, then worked his kisses up Shigure's arm, Shigure was laughing so hard he could barely stand up.

Hatori's look of disgust faded to resignation over the course of the day, but he never said a word. Not even when, supposedly to make up for neglecting him, Ayame took to calling him "'Tori-san!"

---------------------------------------------------

The last month of middle school rolled around, and it came time for the students to plan for the next step in their education.

"Dad," Hatori called when he came home, "we got our course cards today. We're supposed to 'consult with our parents' about the classes we're going to take next year, so could you sign this?" Hatori held out the already-completed course card.

Hatori's father paused. Then he stubbed out his cigarette and turned to face his son. "About that," he said.

"I'm planning to take orchestra and metalworking my first year," Hatori continued, "though Shigure keeps whining at me to take Advanced Placement literature with him--"

"Hatori."

Hatori paused. His father's voice was serious.

"The main house has...contacted me about what they intend your career to be."

"What they intend my career to be?" Hatori repeated, sarcastic and disbelieving.

"They want you to be a doctor."

Hatori stood still for a moment, gathering his thoughts. "So, what, they're dictating my life or something? They're saying I have to be a doctor, so I have to be a doctor?"

"Yes. Partly because of your...ability."

Hatori's mouth tightened. When he was a child he had thought his special power was cool. He and his two cousins used to play games with it all the time. But after seeing too many eyes filled with blankness, or with pain caused by what he had done, Hatori had started to hate having the ability he had been born with.

"So, what, they're making me sign up for anatomy and advanced biology and stuff, instead of the classes _I_ want to take?"

"That's the idea, yes."

Hatori realized that his hands were shaking. "No."

His father looked grim. "You have no choice, Hatori."

"What do you mean I have no choice?!" Hatori exploded. "It's MY life! The stupid main house doesn't control me!"

His father's eyes narrowed. "They do, Hatori. It's time you learned that. You had the misfortune to be born into this family, therefore you are a slave to it."

"I'm not doing it," Hatori hissed. "I'm not going to be a doctor. I don't _want_ to be a doctor. And what about Shigure and Ayame?"

"The main house has so far not expressed any interest in what career path they will take. All they care about is you."

"They can't! I won't! I REFUSE!"

Hatori's father did not bother to answer.

---------------------------------------------------

"Hey, 'Tori-san! Why did you sign up for anatomy?" Ayame wondered, glancing through Hatori's schedule.

"I thought you were going to take orchestra," Shigure said with a frown.

Hatori snatched his schedule back. "Are you two trying to control my life or something? Leave me alone, I can take whatever frickin' classes I want!"

"We were just _asking_, Ha-san," Shigure said in an injured tone. "You don't have to be so touchy."

------------------------------

Author's Notes: I realize that Hatori's "Dragon" form is actually the eastern version, but the western dragon worked better for my purposes.

When I first started this fic, my biggest problem BY FAR was the situation with Shigure and his middle school teacher. For one thing, I doubt an all-boys school would hire a female teacher (though I just realized that their elementary teacher was female, too).

Then, after I had written the first draft, I realized while editing that I had been writing the entire situation from my own perspective, when in truth, Ayame would have approached it somewhat differently. I myself find it extremely inappropriate for a teacher to form a romantic relationship with a middle school student. However, Ayame, being A) younger, B) a boy, and C) having a different personality, might not feel the same way, or at least not for the same reasons. For example, he would probably be more inclined to encourage Shigure than rescue him. I did think of a way to change the circumstances, but not the effects, of this critical point in Shigure's character development, but I was in a rush to finish my fanfics back then and did not have time for problematic re-writes.

Fast-forward about sixteen months later. I have now undertaken a project to edit all my fanfiction, and once again I am faced with Part 2 of this Mabudachi Trio fic. Time to quit procrastinating and dive in. Hopefully, Ayame's reaction is now more consistent with his personality, and I finally changed "Ms. Aku's" extremely corny name. (I picked Shishio because I am reading _Rurouni Kenshin_ at the moment, and I really don't like Shishio.)

This Mabudachi fic is my only story that I consider to be PG-13, because of Part 2. That sort of my content isn't my thing, so I have never enjoyed working on it.


	3. High School

_Inseparable: A Mabudachi Trio fic_, by Raberba girl

**Twelfth Grade**

"It was so funny, and so idiotic! They were all sitting there, drilling out their cute little rules and looking so _intense_," Ayame laughed. "They would be like," he changed his voice to a higher pitch, _"'Point: We do not steal the Prince's belongings. Point: We do not speak to the Prince or either of his Knights unless there are two or more members present.'_ Ha ha ha! 'Gure-san, 'Tori-san, you two are my valiant knights!"

Shigure smiled and shook his head. Hatori only looked disgusted.

It was early morning. The three of them were hiding out behind the school, so that Shigure and Hatori could have a smoke before the first bell. Ayame always abstained, because the first time he tried a cigarette, he had a terrible coughing fit and had trouble breathing for days. Hatori discovered that Ayame's direct family line had a tendency towards asthma, so they thought it best that Ayame did not try again.

"Then they saw me watching, and it was to die for! They all jumped out of their seats and _fawned_ over me; you would've been jealous, 'Gure-san..."

After a few more minutes of this, Shigure got bored and tried to change the subject. Hatori had started tuning out Ayame long ago. "What's in the bag, Aya?" Shigure asked.

Ayame grinned. "New fabrics! I raided that cute shop down by the Taiwanese restaurant, and you wouldn't _believe_ some of the great stuff I found--"

"For fashion design?" Shigure cut in. He liked Ayame, but sometimes hearing the same voice going on for so long could get a bit tiresome.

"I can't believe you are taking that class again," Hatori grumbled. "Wasn't failing one time enough?"

"I bombed the final exam on purpose, so I could take the class _again_," Ayame reminded him.

"I _know_ that, you dolt. I just think that one year's worth of doodling clothing designs and sewing gaudy, flashy outfits together is enough."

Ayame laughed. "Well, it sure beats cutting up dead animals and memorizing the scientific names of every bone in the human body."

"Humph," Hatori grumbled. He dropped his cigarette to the ground and crushed it under his shoe.

"Oh, 'Gure-san!" Ayame suddenly remembered. "How is the graduation speech coming?"

"Pretty good," Shigure said vaguely. "I'm working on two versions. A brilliant one to turn in to the teachers, and the one I'm actually going to read." He winked. Ayame looked highly amused, though Hatori only sighed.

"Is getting into trouble your hobby, or something?"

"Come on, Ha-san! It's senior year, what else can they do to us? After graduation day, we're home-free!"

"I'll miss it," Ayame said suddenly. The other two turned to him curiously, and he smiled. "High school was fun, ne, 'Tori-san? 'Gure-san?" Neither of the other two replied.

Ayame draped his arms around them. "This is so wonderful. 'Tori-san and 'Gure-san and Aya, inseparable since birth. Can you see it? The future of the Mabudachi Trio...'Tori-san caring for our precious Akito, 'Gure-san writing his beautiful novels, Aya running his fashionable clothing store... It makes me happy to be tied to the two of you." There were tears in his eyes.

Shigure turned his face against Ayame's. "We'll fight the curse, Aya," he promised gently. "Someday, I swear to free us, every last one of the Sohmas."

Ayame smiled.

"In the meantime," Hatori continued softly, "we will watch over Akito."

"Yes," Ayame whispered.

"We will shape that child, watch it grow...until the right time finally arrives."

Shigure laughed softly. "Poor thing."

Hatori pulled away. "Come on, we've got class." He paused. Then he turned to his cousins and grinned at them. "We have years yet to play out our wicked roles."

Ayame and Shigure smiled back. Then they slung their bookbags over their shoulders and walked off to class, joking light-heartedly.


End file.
